If you ask some people, they'll tell you it's because of recent player protests during the national anthem. Like when Colin Kaepernick takes a knee.

In a way, it makes sense that people would turn to anthem protests to explain the drop in ratings. Seeing the NFL take a ratings hit is unusual, and so are the protests. But there are a lot of other factors at play here.

For example, that lowest-ever Monday night rating should probably be taken with a grain of salt. After all, there was something else going on that night.

The first presidential debate, as you might've heard, was the most-watched ever
. That's bad news for a football broadcast happening at the same time.

Plus, political coverage as a whole has put up big numbers
throughout the election cycle. It's not unthinkable that it could be cutting into the NFL's viewership a bit.

Another possible factor in the NFL's ratings slide: A lot of the games weren't all that good.